We drove through Harohalli and took a left turn towards Dodda Maralawadi. A further 3km took us closer to our destination — Bilikal Rangaswamy Betta. After packing our gear and taking our necessities, which incidentally included two bottles of wine and a bottle of diesel, we trudged along level ground for some time. Music and people in blue makeshift tents brought us to the turn that we had to take to climb the hill.

The terrain slowly changed and we found ourselves climbing (and sometimes sidestepping) rocks. We were on our way to the top! When our breaths finally caught up with us, we decided to take a break. And when we asked our guide how far we were from our destination, we got an answer that disappointed us. We had just made 20% of our total journey! We trudged, clambered and climbed along, 20% at a time, taking breaks on our way. Close to 3am, we heard a voice that said, “I’m on the top!” and I answered back, “Congratulations!” in a sarcastic tone and soon found the vegetation clear. I was on the top (of the hill) too! I was relieved more than anything else, and mentally made a note that I definitely needed to increase my fitness levels.

We made our way to a nice spot near a cliff and a pond, and decided to camp there for the night. Wood and twigs were collected and a fire was lit up. The bottles of wine were opened and toasts were proposed. I looked at my watch, took out my phone and set the alarm for 5:45am. I said goodnight to the rest of the folks who decided to be up through what was left of the night. Morning would surely bring good photo-ops is what I said to myself before I had one last look at the stars and closed my eyes.

Morning did bring great photo-ops and the following pics are some of the opportunities that I tried to capitalize on.

About Devarayanadurga

Devarayanadurga is a hill station near Tumkur in the state of Karnataka in India. It is about 65km from Bangalore. The rocky hills are surrounded by forest and the hilltops are dotted with several temples including the Yoganarasimha and the Bhoganarasimha temples and an altitude of 3940 feet. It is also famous for Namada Chilume, a natural spring considered sacred and is also considered the origin of the Jayamangali river. Another famous temple in the area is the Mahalakshmi Temple at Goravanahalli.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devarayanadurga

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The Faces

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The Life

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The Animals

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A bit about Hampi
Hampi is a village in northern Karnataka state, India. It is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. The ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as the Group of Monuments at Hampi.

Hampi is identified with the historical Kishkindha, the Vanara (monkey) kingdom mentioned in the Ramayana. The first historical settlements in Hampi date back to 1 CE.

Hampi formed one of the core areas of the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565, when it was finally laid siege to by the Deccan Muslim confederacy. Hampi was chosen because of its strategic location, bounded by the torrential Tungabhadra river on one side and surrounded by defensible hills on the other three sides.

The site is significant historically and architecturally. The topography abounds with large stones which have been used to make statues of Hindu deities. The Archaeological Survey of India continues to conduct excavations in the area, to discover additional artifacts and temples.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampi

A bit about the UAS Campus
The University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS, Bangalore) is located in Bangalore, India. The rulers of Mysore kingdom (The Wodeyars) felt the need to establish research units in the field of agriculture and donated about 30 acres (120,000 m2) of land to set up an Experimental Agricultural Station at Hebbal, then on the outskirts of Bangalore. What began on a 30-acre (120,000 m2) land in 1899 was soon extended to about 1,300 acres (5.3 km2).
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Agricultural_Sciences,_Bangalore

“Vivek Sir, are you ready?” asked Basavaraju, one of the staff at the Jungle Lodges and Resorts, Dandeli. “Gimme just two minutes,” I called from behind the door. After those requested two minutes, I was out the door and boarding the jeep that would take us to the interiors of the forests that encompass Dandeli and Haliyal. Our mission: to meet and interact with Siddis to study their lifestyle and take pictures. The other denizens of the sturdy jeep were Pramod and another young JLR staffer, whose name I do not recall. All I recall is the friendly mocking that he was subjected to by Basavaraju and Pramod.

On our way we picked up an old but strapping Siddi who had a very affable air about him. He was dressed in khakhis with knee length boots. “This is Pascal Mama” Pramod introduced me to him. Soon, I would find out that Pascal Mama (Uncle) was indeed a very popular man amongst not only his brethren, but also amongst the JLR staff. He was an ex-security guard at the JLR, Dandeli. After his so-called retirement, he got into paddy cultivation, which is his present occupation.

We drove in to the forest and Pascal Mama greeted one and all, including the forest guards, with a smile and a couple of words. Meanwhile, the friendly mocking continued in the jeep, now with Pascal Mama too joining in and talking about his virility. He said he had three wives, and I tried doing some mental mathematics to determine how many children or grandchildren he may have had. After stopping by a couple of Siddi hamlets and interacting with and photographing their citizens, we moved ahead to Pascal Mama’s hamlet.

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We met with Pascal Mama’s brother, who was part of Margaret Alva‘s Special Area Games in the 1980s where Siddi children were trained for sports in Bangalore. He, like many other Siddi children at the time, had to drop off from the training to take care of his family back home. We also met Pascal Mama’s daughter, a strong teenager, who was shy of the camera.

Pascal Mama took an ancient rifle from his brother’s place and proudly brandished it saying that it was meant for the wild boar that was devouring his paddy field. We set out in the jeep again towards Dandeli. The friendly mocking and bantering continued.

We stopped at Pascal Mama’s paddy field, and he exclaimed that the wild boar was in the field. We craned our necks and saw the boar on the outer fringes of the field. Pascal Mama rushed towards the boar, aimed his rifle at the animal and shot.

We saw the boar running from the field towards the woods on the other side of the road, with Pascal Mama hot on the boar’s heels. He pursued it in the woods and we soon lost sight of him. After some time, we heard a couple of rifle shots, followed by Pascal Mama’s figure (almost like an apparition) emerging from the woods. Though disappointed, Pascal Mama swore that he would get it the next time.

Pramod grinned and told me, “This (Pascal Mama’s promise to himself, the wild boar, and to anyone who is/was with him during the chase) has been happening for over two years now!”.

Reference: http://acrazymindseye.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/siddhi-community/

Indian Siddis have African genes, says study

Hyderabad, Jul 8 (PTI)

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has claimed to have established that people of Siddi community spread over Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have African genes.

A study by the city-based CCMB has shown eight generations (200 years) of unidirectional gene flow into the Siddis from neighbouring Indian populations. Disclosing the results of the study today, CCMB Director Mohan Rao and Senior Scientist K Thangaraj said their research was aimed at looking at the part of Africa they have originated from, the likely founder population of Indian Siddis, the admix with neighbouring Indian populations and the medical and social implications of admixture. Siddis are mainly found in Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. They have typical African features like dark skin, curly hair and broad nose, Rao said.

Rao said historically, Siddis had been brought by Portuguese traders during 17th and 19th centuries and sold to Nawabs and Sultans in India to serve as soldiers and slaves. Scientists at CCMB screened the Siddi populations from Junagarh district of Gujarat and Uttara Kannad district of Karnataka with hundreds of thousands of genetic markers. Finally, they selected three different sets of markers, Y-chromosome markers, which are paternally inherited, mitochondrial DNA markers, which are maternally inherited and the autosomal markers that are inherited from both parents.

Along with Siddis, CCMB also analysed six populations, who are inhabited in the close vicinity of Siddis, to establish their gene inflow, Rao explained. The statistical evidence show the Siddi population has a combination of ancestries (ie 70% Africans and 30% Indians and Europeans), according to the study.

The scientists further estimated that Siddis might have admixed with the neighbouring Indian populations for about 200 years (8 generations) ago.

“Our genetic finding coincides with the historical record of the arrival of Siddis in India. We also observed 10 per cent of the African-specific genetic signatures in Siddis, which gives protection against malaria,” Rao added.

Further investigation revealed that among the sub- Saharan African populations, Siddis are the direct descendants of the Bantu-speakers. Scientists found the presence of the Indian-specific genetic signature in Siddis but not vice versa, suggesting the unidirectional gene flow from the Indian populations to Siddis.

The admixture of Siddis with the neighbouring populations has remarkable medical and social implications. A genetic variant, which originated in Africa about 5,000 years back to protect against malaria, has been found only in 10 per cent of the Siddi population, the CCMB Director said.

“This low frequency is mainly due to their admixture with the neighbouring Indian populations, which ultimately makes Indian Siddis more susceptible to malaria than their African ancestors,” Rao added.

Check out my pictures of the Siddis displayed at The Timeless Essence of Indigenous People.

“Sir, my friend just called me and told me that a Suggi (harvest festival) will be celebrated on the outskirts of the town today” said Kamalakar. “What time is it going to be?” I asked excitedly. Kamalakar told me that it would be in the evening, and we decided that he would pick us (Cindy, a close friend of mine and me) up at 3:00pm.

Kamalakar was our trusted auto-rickshaw driver to take us around from our hotel on the Om Beach to Gokarna town and wherever our photographic journeys would further take us. Kamalakar is a hard-working young man who has a sense (albeit odd) of style, with one collar of his tee shirt folded up (pointed out to me by Cindy). He takes the winding roads and the ups and downs with ease, and there is a sense of reassurance about his driving.

After being picked up at around 3:15pm, we set out to the outskirts of Gokarna and landed in the place where the Suggi was to be celebrated. We were surprised to see no one there, except for a middle-aged Halakki woman who asked us to come back at around 5:30pm when the celebrations would actually be on. We then decided to roam around in Gokarna, which was an experience in itself.

The main avenue had a lot of shops, most of them catering to the hippy crowd that generally throngs Gokarna beaches. Tie-dye clothes, mirror-worked bedsheets, beads and idols filled these shops. There were a few other shops that catered to the devout Hindus who visit this holy town. Cindy encountered a tattoo artist and decided to spend some time going through his work. They hit it off well, with the artist curious about Cindy’s tattoos and she admiring his portfolio. We came across hippies, local pilgrims, visitors from out of town, beggars and a couple of Halakki women, besides the ubiquitous Havyaks who dominate this temple town.

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Kamalakar picked us up at 5:00pm and we again headed to the outskirts of the town towards the field. We were thoroughly surprised at the sight that greeted us. The earlier empty field had turned into a sea of humanity! Men, women, men dressed as women, and children filled this field. And more than five hundred smiling and curious faces filled our eyes. There was festivity in the air.

The light was getting low while the spirits were getting high. Music and celebration rang in the air. A troupe of tribal musicians played a hypnotic rhythm, while the singer sang songs praising the deity. Young men dressed as comic characters, beggars, lovelorn couples and even a soccer player moved amongst the milling crowds, collecting money that people gave them. I happily clicked away capturing these interesting moments.

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Suddenly there was a stir and people moved giving way to a group of young men carrying huge palm fronds adorned with flowers. Behind them was a heavy palanquin borne by the tribal priests. I peeped in to have a look at the tribal deity perched atop a red platform in the palanquin. The palanquin made circles within the crowd before the priests finally set it in its rightful place.

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We then headed towards the road to go back to the auto-rickshaw. We were shooed towards the side of the road by policemen and I was a bit irked by that. Little did I know that there was another huge procession heading towards us. A procession that comprised of tribals from another village with their flower-lined palm fronds and youngsters with bags of wet ash that was strewn in the air chanting “Dhumsale” with each throw of a handful of ash. The hysteria was apparent and the chanting was truly hypnotic. The celebrations had not ended!

Kamalakar later picked us up and dropped us off at our hotel on the beach. Later in the night when I was sitting in the patio and listening to the lapping waves, the very transformation of an empty field into a sea of humanity amazed me. And the words, “Dhumsale” still rang in my ears.